Question

I am a little over 1 week out of surgery now.  I am still tired alot.  I am doing better each but but still can not lay on my left side.  Also my left front leg above my knee and below my groin is num alot.  It is hard to sleep at night because of it.  Is this numest normal?

Hi Ray...maybe a few more days to a week for the left side sleeping. I had a body pillow that allowed me to roll slightly to my left to sleep as it supported much of the weight of my body instead of the weight going on to the incisions...pulling your left leg up over the pillow helps also, and found it a huge help positioning my self at night. I tend to sleep on my left or mostly on stomach at night. It was several weeks before I could lie on tummy even with leg pulled up. 

Now about the numbness. The whole top and outside of my left thigh is numb and has been since surgery on April 3rd.  I suspected it was nerve damage caused from the surgery and that is exactly what my PCP and surgeon told me. They said this can happen in about 25% of surgeries and assured me it would go away eventually. That is why it is on the left as the left abdomen was cut and the nerve likely damaged then. Mine does seem some better, at least the burning and stinging are mostly gone. . In the beginning the first 3 months there was a lot of stinging and burning pain and occasionally sharp pains shooting across it. Now It usually only hurts if I have stayed up on it much longer than I should have. Another thing that bothers it is the ceiling fan blowing air on it so I keep a bath towel next to my chair to lie over my leg. They told me to put nothing on the skin but vitamen e oil, if you buy some get a tiny bottle as it is super oily and goes a long ways or buy vit e caps and puncture with a pin....I wanted the caps but the drug store did not have them so settled for the bottle. I did use Flector patches in the beginning. They are anti-inflamatory patches and you need a script for them. I often lightly massage mine to stimulate the blood flow and hopefully stimule the nerves. The skin over it also stays colder than the resy of my skin and that may be why the air from fan irritates it. We just have to tough it out and I have answered this question for several people so it is not uncommon. Good luck...

Gena

I am 2 weeks out of open RNY and I won't be sleeping on my side for awhile.  Every couple of days I try but I am not there yet.  I just prop myself up and preted I like to sleep on my back.  I've been so tired that I am not having much problem sleeping.  I might not be able to sleep on my side, but I can feel my legs.  I guess that puts me better off than some, huh Gena?!?

Yeah!  I have 1.5 legs I can feel LOL!

I have been pretty much sleeping on my right side.  I have a body pillow which I hug and roll on my right.  Sometimes the numbess and pain in my left legs just hurts to much to sleep.  I have found taking a HOT bath helps for a little while.  I have never been a back sleeper so I really have a hard time with that position. 

Yes, I take a lot of baths in the evening as  that is when my leg bothers me the most...at the end of the day when I am tired.  I understand about it keeping you awake also as I had the same issue.  If your insurance will cover it you might call your doctor about the Flector patch. My rhumatologist gave me a sample pack and perhaps your PCP might have some available. They are new and so there is no generic unfortunately.  Ray if you are willing to try you may get relief with the Salompas patch. They are over the counter, most all drug and large grocery stores have them. They are in a green and white box in the aisle where analgesic rubs are. They are small about 2" by 3" and if they sting just gently remove it. I never tried them as I had the large Flector patches...the Salompas is not expensive but you might want to use it near the edge of the numb tissue to see how it works. If they do, and you can use them...Costco has the best deal around on them. A BIG box for less than 10.00 best I remember. Let me know if you try and how it works? I have had very good pain control with them and have them on now as the humidity is causing the nerve damage in neck and shoulders to flare up pretty good. I have used them for well over 10 years and no problem.

Gena